He could have sworn he had put in the diamond

Date1913

Artist Stanley Massey Arthurs (American painter, 1877–1950)

Illustration Citation"Mr. Jones and the Nobility," by Dorothea Conyers, in The Saturday Evening Post, May 24, 1913

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions36 × 25 in. (91.4 × 63.5 cm)
frame: 42 1/8 × 31 1/8 in. (107 × 79.1 cm)

Credit LineGift in memory of Ashby M. and Catherine B. Larmore, 2017

Object number2017-109

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsPAINTING

Label TextThis story takes place in London. Archibald Jones (left) is an earnest working class employee of a diamond merchant. Through his assignments, he is exposed to the sometimes criminal activities of the aristocratic customers (the "nobility" of the title). Here, after his cleverness has unveiled a theft, he ponders how best to take a stolen gem from its drunken thief. His slightly awkward stance reflects the movement of the train as he ponders his predicament.

Stanley Arthurs presents a simple but dramatic composition: two heads framed by windows, counterpoint curves of the head- and arm-rests, and a sense of the compartment's space created by the foreground seat and newspapers.

Athurs studied initally with Wilmington painter Clawson Hammitt who recommended him to Howard Pyle, with whom he studied at Drexel and then at the Wilmington studio and Chadds Ford Summer School.

He eventually bought Pyle studio & sold it to the studio group in 1935. He had his whole career in Wilmington – taught here – and also was involved with the WSFA.
19 finished illustrations / includes landscape/seascape / student dr + 2 drawings
3 mural oil studies / 10 studies / over 70 sketches that we have from before training
This is from a story that takes place in London. The man at left - Archibald Jones of the title - is an earnest working class guy employee of a British diamond merchant, who gets exposed to all the aristocracy who shops there {that’s “the nobility”}. If you think the proportions are off here, it’s because the author makes a great deal of Jones being short – mentioned several times. Here, his cleverness has unveiled a plot about stolen gems - he’s just about to relieve a drunken thief of a diamond belonging to Jones’ employer. Simple but dramatic composition – counterpoint curves, both heads highlighted against windows, and this tentative gesture as Jones if judging how likely it is that this man will wakes up as he relieves him of the box in his pocket. Beautiful green – published in black and white.